As Storm Emma continues to dust us in snow, you might be ready for a Friday night treat.

Have you ever tried a hot gin?

According to founder of Ireland's Jawbox Small Batch Gin, Gerry White, gin is perfect when it's served warm in a gin toddy.

Gerry, who worked as a barman for 35 years before starting Jawbox gin, the choice gin for Irish Michelin star chef Michael Deane in his cooking, shares his recipe here:

50ml Jawbox gin

Cinnamon stick

1 tsp natural honey

A squeeze of fresh lime

150ml hot premium ginger ale

Method: Stir the ingredients together in your glass, with the cinnamon stick for flavouring and garnishing, and you have the perfect gin toddy.

"Everyone thinks about a hot whiskey and a hot port but a gin toddy is really nice."

Or, if you want to stick an even simpler cocktail, try this one:

Gin and ginger ale:

Ingredients

35ml Jawbox Small Batch Gin

100ml premium ginger ale

Lime to garnish

Method

Pour Jawbox into an ice-filled mug. Top up with refreshing, chilled ginger ale, squeeze and drop in a wedge of lime.

"Before gin and tonic, gin was always served with a ginger syrup. The gin and tonic came much later. And the first ever food and drink pairing was a hot gin served with ginger bread," he told Independent.ie.

"Jawbox gin was invented in Belfast and ginger ale was invented in Belfast. So a good quality ginger ale like Fever Tree and a lime is a signature serve that's really special."

White, who worked in the hospitality industry for almost 35 years, says gin was the only spirit he ever really enjoyed, and it was pure luck when its popularity exploded.

"When I started out making Jawbox gin, the whole gin revolution hadn't taken off but when we were ready to launch Jawbox, it couldn't have been better a time. I had no idea that gin was going to come back into the fore."

"Namely it's because when the craft beers came out, people realised that here was something where each one tasted a bit different and was a bit special, and it laid a foundation for people who liked stuff that people were making that's artisanal produce."

"The barmen really got behind gin, and the cocktails and glassware were being produced to go with it, and it made gin something really special," he added. "No two are the same."

Attracting the support of Michelin star and respected chefs and restaurants has been the icing on the cake, White says.

"We're doing exceptionally well in restaurants. Michael Deane from Deane's in Belfast, a Michelin star chef, does a Jawbox gin and citrus cured trout."

"When those guys get behind you - he actually names the brand on his menu - that's a massive pat on the back."

"Niall McKenna from James Street South now uses Jawbox gin to cure salmon."

Jawbox gin is connected to its city, he added.

"One of the ingredients in Jawbox, one of the botanicals, is Black mountain heather. The Black mountains surround the city of Belfast, it's the backdrop of the city."

"One of the other ones we use is the grains of paradise, it's part of the pepper famiy, and it just gives a nice wee bit of warmth and spiciness to the gin."